Cultivating in the Mountains

The withered yellow mugwort stood stiffly in the wind, reaching half a person's height.

The gray giant wolf planted one paw down, and whole swathes of mugwort snapped and fell. It circled the Fragrant Bait Pill a few times, trampling a patch of flat ground right through the mugwort.

"Iron-Back Gray Wolves aren't very intelligent. It can't figure out why the Fragrant Bait Pill gives off such a strong meaty smell. It looks nothing like the food it's familiar with..."

Zhu Qiniang explained beside Gao Xian's ear. Her voice seemed to reach him through an in-ear headphone: clear, yet distinctly different from the sounds around them.

He had no idea how Zhu Qiniang managed it. It was probably some kind of secret art.

Gao Xian was about to speak when Zhu Qiniang pressed down on his shoulder. Her slender fingers were surprisingly strong. Gao Xian immediately understood what she meant and hurriedly shut his mouth.

"Iron-Back Gray Wolves are demonic beasts. Their sense of smell, hearing, and sight are all exceptionally sharp. You don't know sound transmission, so if you open your mouth, that beast could easily hear you."

Zhu Qiniang continued, "Don't be afraid. With your speed, the Iron-Back Gray Wolf will have a hard time touching you. You also have Azure Wood Armor. With the Wood Shield, you can even hold it off head-on for a while.

"Don't worry. If you really run into danger, I'll step in."

Zhu Qiniang sounded utterly confident, as if she could deal with the Iron-Back Gray Wolf the moment she stepped in. Gao Xian, though, felt a little uneasy.

That thing was enormous. If he couldn't kill it at once, his life would be hanging by a thread.

Gao Xian was still wondering how to turn her down when Zhu Qiniang gave him a hard shove in the back. He fell straight off the pine tree, several zhang above the ground.

Fortunately, his physical abilities were now extraordinary. He reacted in an instant, naturally adjusting his posture in midair.

When he landed, he bent his knees slightly and smoothly absorbed the force of the impact.

Gao Xian was pleased with his reflexes. He had fallen helplessly from a height of nearly ten meters and managed to land like that—proof that he had improved enormously.

That gave him a little more confidence. The wolf was huge, but he wasn't a pushover either.

Several dozen paces away, the Iron-Back Gray Wolf spotted Gao Xian at once. It knew humans as food and charged at him without hesitation.

The Iron-Back Gray Wolf was enormous, but it ran incredibly fast. It covered those several dozen paces and reached Gao Xian in less than two breaths.

Gao Xian felt as if a car traveling at a hundred and twenty miles an hour were hurtling straight at him. His heart clenched tight, his mind went blank with nerves, and every muscle in his body tensed.

Fortunately, his Lightning Dragon Hand had reached the Grandmaster level, giving him terrifyingly fast reflexes.

Even in the grip of extreme nervousness, Gao Xian could still clearly see the Iron-Back Gray Wolf's movements, the fierce light shining in its emerald eyes, and its long fur streaming in the wind.

They both have emerald eyes, but Qiniang's are so much prettier than the wolf's...

For some reason, that utterly irrelevant thought suddenly crossed Gao Xian's mind.

Perhaps he had realized that the Iron-Back Gray Wolf was actually moving quite slowly—not nearly as fast as he was. His nerves had naturally eased, leaving him time to think about other things.

Gao Xian calmed down, but Zhu Qiniang, up in the pine tree, grew tense. She could see that his muscles were rigidly clenched; he was so nervous that he had lost control of his body.

If Gao Xian didn't dodge or block, his physique alone wouldn't be enough to save him. The Iron-Back Gray Wolf would likely smash him to death.

The giant wolf weighed more than two thousand jin, and the force of its full-speed charge was terrifying. Even with her Primordial Golden Body, Zhu Qiniang would rather not collide head-on with a charging Iron-Back Gray Wolf.

Zhu Qiniang didn't want anything to happen to Gao Xian. Threads of azure lightning flickered in her left hand; the Azure Wood Lightning Spear was ready.

This spell was her long-range attack. With the Lightning Ring amplifying it, its lightning grew stronger and could be unleashed faster.

Even so, Zhu Qiniang couldn't cast the Azure Wood Lightning Spear instantly. She had to form hand seals, chant, and prepare the talisman first, so she could unleash it in the shortest time possible.

Just as Zhu Qiniang was about to act, Gao Xian suddenly sidestepped and drew his sword.

His movements were both precise and swift, letting him evade the oncoming Iron-Back Gray Wolf by a hair.

The seventeen-jin Stone-Slicing Sword, strapped behind his waist, flashed from its sheath in a streak of icy light.

The Iron-Back Gray Wolf sensed the danger too. Instinctively, it ducked its head and changed direction, adjusting its posture.

But Gao Xian's sword was far faster than the Iron-Back Gray Wolf. Its gleaming blade shrieked through the air and carved a long gash across the wolf's neck, blood spraying with the flash of the sword.

A seventeen-jin blade swung at that speed carried terrifying force. At the same time, he activated the Sharp Metal Rune on its edge.

With Sister Lan coordinating within the game, activating the Sharp Metal Rune was simplicity itself for Gao Xian. It was practically unleashed at a thought.

That let the Stone-Slicing Sword's sharpness shine to its fullest.

The Iron-Back Gray Wolf had thick skin and dense fur, enough to turn ordinary arrows. But it couldn't withstand such a vicious, swift strike.

The blade cut through fur, flesh, and blood vessels, slicing halfway through its neck.

With a howl, it crashed to the ground and skidded away, plowing an opening through the mugwort and brush as grass leaves and dust billowed into the air.

The Iron-Back Gray Wolf's huge body kept rolling until it slammed into a pine tree and finally stopped.

Zhu Qiniang, standing in the tree, was astonished. A moment ago, she had thought Gao Xian was about to be crushed to death; in the blink of an eye, the Iron-Back Gray Wolf was lying on the ground.

The sudden reversal left her speechless.

She had seen it clearly: Gao Xian's sword had been so fast and fierce that it had nearly severed half the Iron-Back Gray Wolf's neck.

But the Iron-Back Gray Wolf's body was exceptionally tough. Despite such an injury, it still managed to stagger to its feet and run for its life.

Gao Xian hesitated. At the Iron-Back Gray Wolf's speed, he could still catch up for a while, but he wasn't sure how much damage his strike had done.

A cornered beast would fight back desperately; an injured demonic beast would be even more dangerous.

It was only a big wolf. If it got away, so be it. He didn't care that much.

Zhu Qiniang jumped down from the tree, grabbed Gao Xian, and chased after the fleeing wolf. "Don't just stand there. Hurry and catch up!"

"Do we really have to chase it?" Gao Xian wasn't very enthusiastic.

"Why let prey that's already in our hands get away?"

Zhu Qiniang pulled Gao Xian along at a faster pace as she spoke. "An Iron-Back Gray Wolf, hide and all, can sell for twenty Spirit Stones."

Hearing how valuable it was, Gao Xian quickened his pace too and asked excitedly, "It's worth that much?"

"Of course. Iron-Back Gray Wolves are actually very hard to kill. Even three to five ordinary mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators might not be able to take one down."

Then Zhu Qiniang praised Gao Xian. "Your quick sword is really powerful."

Of all the Qi Refining cultivators she had seen, none could match Gao Xian's speed.

Even more astonishing, Gao Xian could swing the Stone-Slicing Sword at that speed, despite its full seventeen-jin weight.

She could wield it more easily and fluidly, but she was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, only one step away from Foundation Establishment. By rights, her strength should have been more than ten times Gao Xian's, since he was only in the early stages of Qi Refining.

"Not bad, huh? I used a little secret art."

Gao Xian was delighted by her praise. In truth, he had held back about thirty percent of his strength.

His Grandmaster-level Lightning Dragon Hand made him extraordinarily fast. The Stone-Slicing Sword was simply a little too heavy. If he put all his strength into a swing, he couldn't control it afterward.

With seventy percent of his strength, he could swing the sword at high speed while still keeping enough control.

"It's not just good. It's very good. Extremely good."

Zhu Qiniang said with complete certainty, "Even a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator using the Wood Shield and Golden Body Talisman couldn't withstand that strike of yours!"